The Forest of Paper
by Evervescent
Summary: Rin, a young orphan rendered mute from emotional trauma, finds herself bedridden after going out during a storm. Stuck in bed all day with nothing to do, she finds that a strange pencil that brings her drawings to life in her dreams may be the escape she was looking for, and that the strange man in them might be the one to save her.


The rain was falling hard, pushing the late afternoon sun out of the sky and darkening the clouds and the ground. Thunder cracked loud, and Wakahisa Rin cowered underneath the thin blankets she had on. More out of fear than from the cold, she shivered violently, wishing someone would come in and close the open window. Rain splattered inside onto the wooden floors, and occasionally onto Rin and her bed. The front yard was now muddy, and whatever tall weeds that were once standing there had been bent over or broken by the powerful wind.

The sound of wet shoes in the room made Rin peek out from under her blankets. A woman, her head partially covered by a shawl, marched into the room, an annoyed look on her face — one of the caretakers that watched over the children. She was sopping wet and trailed water behind her on the floor as she made her way towards the window. She slammed it shut. The abrupt noise made Rin cringe.

"Honestly Rin, you were two feet away from that blasted window! The floor will get all wet next time, and so will all of your covers. Don't ask me to change them if they get wet from the rain." She curled her lip at Rin, whose eyes blinked at her from behind the blanket. "Get out of bed and do something productive, won't you? I won't have you lying in bed all day being lazy."

Rin swallowed, but vehemently shook her head.

"Silly girl. You've no skill in the kitchen, you've no will to clean, and now you'll grow timid and lazy as well!" The caretaker pulled the shawl off her head angrily and shook it around. "People will come and visit and see all the other children, attending to their duties, and think that those are good, obedient souls who they would love to have as children. They will take one look at you and not one more, because all you do is sit in bed all day! The other girls clean their parts of this room, and you never do yours! You stupid, dysfunctional child!" Her voice grew louder with each word, and by the time she was finished, she was shouting. "When I come back to this room, I want to see a dry floor and a dry windowsill, do you hear?" Rin's hands trembled, but she nodded, hesitantly.

"Why won't you say something? Say 'yes', say you understand, speak!" Rin only blinked. The caretaker stormed out of the room, muttering as she went. "Incompetent child..."

Rin waited until she had left the room and closed the door before, very slowly, climbing out of the bed. She circled around her bed to the foot of it, where large dark spots from the rain had temporarily stained the wood a darker color than its usual brown. Unsure of how to dry something that had already been absorbed, she grabbed a towel off the nightstand between her bed and the neighboring one and clumsily rubbed at it until it seemed lighter and lighter. She scrubbed the water until it had completely dried off, and then moved on to the windowsill. The water was beaded on the surface, and was easy enough to come off with one quick swipe of the towel. Rin heard footsteps approaching again, and quickly pushed the towel back on to the desk and hopped back into her bed.

The caretaker stepped back in, looking more orderly than she had before, her clothing straightened out and her hair dry. The dripping shawl was gone. She took a quick glance at the floor and the windowsill and pursed her lips. "You left your dirty towel there. It's filthy! You took all the dirt from the sill and the floor as well as the water!"

Rin smiled a little and nodded.

"It just goes to show how seldom you clean your room, lazy girl. To think, you couldn't even bother to toss this towel away either, or wash it and leave it to dry." The smile faded instantly. "Well? Don't just sit there and look dumb. Go downstairs and toss the thing!" Rin scrambled out of her bed and snatched the towel from behind the caretaker, then fled the room.

She hopped down the stairs, her mood lighter with the caretaker out of her sight. She passed other children on her way to the kitchen, who were chasing each other around, the occasional few who were dusting paintings or attending to their other chores.

Rin snuck behind one of the cooks in the kitchen and made a beeline for the trash can, dropping in the dirty towel and then hightailing it out of the kitchen, unnoticed. She snagged a peach from the fruit basket on the counter as she left, taking a large bite out of it.

She was about to ascend the stairs before she was stopped by a boy, not much older than her. "Hey Rin, we were just going to go up to your room." He gestured to a small group of kids behind him. "Someone came by earlier with toys and stuff and we found this. None of us wanted it, and we thought you'd like it." The boy shrugged before depositing a pencil into her empty hand, which was sticky from the peach's juices. "You said you wanted a new pencil, right? It's not exactly _brand_ new, but I think it'll work out fine."

Rin grinned at him, grasping the pencil eagerly in her hand. Her thanks shone in her eyes, and the boy saw it, smiling back. "Glad you like it, Rin. Why don't you stay and play with us?" Rin shook her head and held up her new pencil pointedly.

"Hey, Kohaku, come on! There's a soccer ball in here!"

Kohaku laughed. "I guess I should get going. Make sure you show me your new drawings, yeah?" He patted her once on the head before rushing off to join the other kids, who were beginning to toss around their new ball.

Without a lingering glance at the other children, Rin rushed upstairs, barely missing the same caretaker from her room on the way up. She clutched her new pencil tightly in one hand, and messily finished off the peach before she reached her room.

She snatched her notebook from the desk and dove into the bed again, crawling partway under the covers and hugging them close to herself. The notebook was old, slightly tattered, and looked like nothing special. To Rin, however, it was the most important thing in the world. The only thing she had left from her family, her mother's newly purchased and barely used sketchbook, with only a few pages drawn on. A day did not pass where Rin hadn't looked at every drawing in the book and drew in the book herself.

She rolled the pencil between her hands. Much like the notebook, the pencil appeared to be nothing special. It was slightly shorter than a new pencil, still long enough to be of use for a while. The lead was thick and, upon drawing a long line in a fresh page in the sketchbook, Rin was delighted to see the strong line it created. The wood was yellow, like most pencils, and near the base where the pink eraser was, small designs were carved in. Running her thumb over them, she decided she liked the way it all fit together.

Rin continued the small line, drawing one that ran from one edge of the page to the other end. It ran straighter than she had expected it to.

Grinning, ideas began to paint themselves in her head. The rain continued to pound down outside, while Rin drew. She scribbled furiously across the paper, her tongue sticking out slightly from the corner of her mouth, and her brows furrowed in concentration. She sketched straight and curved lines, coloring them with the black pencil, pressing down harder in some places and just barely touching the pencil down in others.

To anyone else, the drawing was all black, but in Rin's head, each part of her drawing bore colors. She saw them as clear as day in her head. The ground was brown, deep and dark, and the trees and flowers she had drawn on it were all sorts of colors. She wondered if for a split second she should draw in some more flowers, or add in a cloud or two to the sunny sky, but before she could decide, a loud rapping came at her door.

"Rin! It's your turn to take the trash outside, go downstairs and get to it!" The voice of the caretaker from before shouted. Reluctantly, Rin tucked away her pencil in the spiral of the sketchbook, and hid both under her blanket.

She trudged downstairs to the kitchen, where she grabbed the trash bag and tied up the ends before, with much effort, heaving it over her shoulders and dragging herself to the front door. Kohaku and the children he was with earlier were quietly kicking a soccer ball around the main room, being mindful of the furniture in case a caretaker should come in and scold them.

"Rin, is it your turn to take out the trash?" She turned at the sound of Kohaku's voice and gave him a nod. "It's raining too hard outside. One of us should do it for you." He tucked the ball under his arm and reached his hand out for the bag. "I'll do it."

Rin took a step back and shook her head. She gave him a toothy grin before running outside, pushing the unlocked door open with a hand and running straight out to the orphanage's dumpster. She was soaked the instant she took her first step, but paid it no heed. There was no good reason for Kohaku to romp around in the rain and get wet than there was for her to. The rain didn't bother her one bit— it was the thunder that did it. One loud crack and Rin had tossed the trash bag a few feet in the direction of the dumpster and made a break for it, her mouth open in a silent scream.

She came back inside, panting, and a rather concerned looking Kohaku trotted over to her instantly. "I told you I could have done it, Rin. I know you're scared of thunderstorms." Sighing, he put a hand on her back and gently ushered her towards the stairs. "You should take a shower and make sure you stay warm for the night, okay? We don't want you catching a cold."

Rin looked at him, her brown eyes wide. Though she hadn't known him before she came to the orphanage, Kohaku had been a great friend to her either way. If anyone deserved to hear her speak, it was him.

Kohaku stopped at the top of the stairs. "Go on and shower, okay? Don't worry about dinner. If you're late, I'll make sure to save you a plate."

Rin gave him her large, sunny smile that showed off her missing tooth before scurrying off to her bedroom to find fresh clothes.

* * *

After showering and drying herself off, a tired Rin wandered back into her room, intent on skipping dinner in order to dive straight into bed. Or, more precisely, straight into bed to continue her doodles. However, upon entering, she saw Kohaku, sitting on her bed with a plate in his lap. He leaped up when he saw her.

"You took a little while, so I held on to some dinner for you in case you missed it." He handed her the plate, which she reluctantly took. If she refused, she had the sneaking suspicion that Kohaku would find a way for her to eat it, anyway. "I'm sorry I can't stay, you know the caretakers don't like it when we stay over in other rooms at night without permission." He gave her an apologetic smile. "Just make sure to drop the plate off in the kitchen, okay?" Another nod, Rin's usual response, and Kohaku gave her a shy smile before exiting.

Rin halfheartedly poked at her dinner and ate a few bites. The peach must have filled her up, since she didn't have as much of an appetite as she usually did. She was about to head downstairs to toss out the rest of her dinner when suddenly, in the pit of her stomach, a warm, sickly feeling began to form. Haphazardly pushing her plate onto her nightstand, Rin stood and, covering her mouth with a hand, ran to the nearest restroom and heaved into the toilet bowl.

Sweat beaded on her forehead, and when she finished, Rin sat back on her shins, breathing heavily, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. A caretaker burst in, obviously having heard the noise, and stared at Rin for a minute before rushing to her, flushing the toilet for her, and ushering her over to the sink. With a frustrated sigh, she helped Rin wash her mouth out and felt her forehead afterwards. The caretaker frowned.

"Tsubaki! Get over here!" she called. Another caretaker entered the bathroom, and took one look at Rin and groaned. "You again? How is it possible for you to get sick so easily?" She took Rin's hand and led her out of the bathroom none too gently, barely noticing how the little girl stumbled as she tried to keep up with Tsubaki's pace. She found herself deposited in her bed, under the covers and with a warm washcloth over her forehead. "Kaguya, go fetch her some medicine for the flu, and water." As Kaguya left, Tsubaki turned back to Rin, clucking her tongue in disappointment.

"Stupid girl, you wandered outside while it was raining, didn't you?"

Unable to speak in her defense, Rin could only nod weakly, her head feeling heavy from the fever. Tsubaki shook her head. "You'll never learn, will you? Kind souls come in here all the time, looking for a child. Can't you see no one will look twice at a sick, lazy little girl who can't take care of herself?" Rin's lower lip trembled, but she bit down on it and looked to the side.

Kaguya reentered the room, holding a tray with a medicine bottle and water. She poured the dosage, and held the cup to Rin's lips. "Come now, drink it." Rin pursed her lips and shook her head stubbornly. Having tasted the soul medicine before, she didn't want it anywhere near her mouth. Kaguya gritted her teeth and tapped the side of Rin's jaw harshly. "Open up or you won't get well any time soon." Begrudgingly, Rin opened her mouth and gagged as the bitter, thick medicine slipped down her throat. She flailed around for the glass of water and drank from it greedily, eager to get the taste of medicine out of her mouth.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it? Now go to sleep, it'll probably be gone by sunrise." With that Tsubaki and Kaguya exited the room, leaving an exhausted Rin staring after them. She had no idea how they could think she'd get better overnight. Too tired to think about it, Rin rolled on to her side, ignoring the towel that fell off her forehead and onto the mattress.

Sleep came quickly for her, and she fell into it without a protest.

Rin dreamed.

* * *

A/N: So here's another story that I probably shouldn't have started until I finish the others but whoops.

This is based off of the AMAZING book _Marianne Dreams_ by Catherine Storr. It's a children's book, essentially, but I couldn't stop thinking of Rin as the main character for it, so I wrote this! I hope you guys like it!

HUGE shout-out to **makorrashenanigans** for beta-ing this for me! Her stories are amazing go, check her out!


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